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Eagle Football Gives Homecoming Crowd 34-21 Win Over Butler

MSU Athletics

The Morehead State football team rolled up 484 offensive yards, intercepted two passes and blocked two Butler field goals Saturday as the Eagles defeated the Bulldogs 34-21 in front of more than 9,800 Homecoming fans at Jayne Stadium.

MSU, which snapped a three-game losing skid to Butler, moved to 3-3 overall and 2-1 in the Pioneer Football League heading into a bye week. The Bulldogs fell to 3-2 and 1-1 in the league.

"That was pure team football today," Head Coach Rob Tenyer said. "It has been so enjoyable to see how our team has improved just this year. We made some adjustments on defense at halftime and took away some things they were doing well in the first half."

The Eagles only tailed 14-10 midway through the second quarter but only allowed one more Butler score, while junior quarterback Austin Gahafer connected on three TD passes as MSU built a halftime lead of 24-14 and led 31-21 in the final half.

Gahafer, who ranks second among Football Championship subdivision QBs in points responsible for, finished 23-of-38 for 363 yards. It marked his fifth straight game with at least three touchdown passes.

Senior running back Rob Harden churned out 87 yards on just 12 carries and scored the Eagles' first touchdown, a two-yard scamper just two minutes into the game. The play was set up by a Gahafer-to-Justin Cornwall pass that covered 53 yards. Cornwall hauled in seven passes for a team-best 105 yards and had 191 all-purpose yards.

Gahafer also found Darius Pritchett on a 40-yard scoring heave in the second period, caught Tanner Napier in stride on a 44-yard strike in the third stanza and tossed a 13-yard TD to Jake Raymond with 1:32 left before halftime. Raymond chalked up 92 yards, and Napier had 89.

"Anytime you can score first, it's a momentum starter," Tenyer added. "Sometimes you have to battle to get that back, but there was some hard-fought play and great effort in all three phases today."

Defensively, senior corner back Justin Grier picked off two Matt Schiltz passes, including one in the end zone on Butler's first drive. He now has a team-best five INTs this season, and he blocked one of the field goals. Senior lineman Ronald Copper blocked the other FG and finished with two sacks and 2.5 tackles for loss.

The game marked the return of senior linebacker Luke Keller, last year's leading tackler. Missing the first five games with a medical issue, Keller picked up where he left off in 2014, making nine total tackles. Safety Dominic Iori paced the team with 10 stops, and freshman corner back Aaron Turk had a career-best two tackles for loss and nine total stops.

Schiltz, the PFL's top rushing quarterback, notched 120 yards on the ground and threw for 281 yards on 21-of-38. He scored on a 41-yard run in the second period.

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